|
 Hossein Nayeri, 37, Jonathan Tieu, 20, and Bac Duong, 43, slipped
away early on Friday after cutting through steel plate and using
plumbing tunnels to elude guards before rappelling from a roof at
the central men's jail in Orange County.
All three are violent criminals, police said. At least one, Tieu, is
a documented member of a Vietnamese street gang and had been in
custody accused of murder.
"We know that in some of the local communities, specifically the
Vietnamese community, there is fear that exists about these
individuals," said Orange County Sheriff's Lt. Dave Sawyer.
He told a news conference that he would not give Tieu's gang the
pleasure of hearing him say its name.
 "I'm just here to tell you that we have taken an extremely proactive
approach to ... putting the pressure on his gang, to let them know
that we are here to find him," Sawyer said.
Members of the public can call the authorities anonymously and a
sheriff's deputy who speaks Vietnamese relayed the same message for
the cameras. A $50,000 reward is offered for information leading to
the inmates' capture.
Duong is an "associate" of a Vietnamese gang, Sawyer said, and was
in custody for attempted murder. Nayeri has a conviction for
homicide and is accused in a kidnapping and torture case.
Sheriff's department spokesman Lt. Jeff Hallock said the three cut
through half-inch steel plate before making it to the roof. It was
not clear how they obtained the necessary tools.
[to top of second column] |
"All I'm going to say is that there were about four to five
different breaches of metal, iron, steel, that type of thing,"
Hallock said.
A disturbance in the jail during which a deputy was assaulted may
have been concocted to delay an inmate count and buy them time, he
said.
"This was a well planned, well thought out escape," Hallock said. He
said there was a "strong possibility" Tieu may have made contact
with fellow gang members.
"We absolutely need the public's help," he said. "We know that
somebody out there knows something."
(Reporting by Daniel Wallis in Denver; editing by Grant McCool)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
